Grupo Especial de Operaciones

The Grupo Especial de Operaciones (GEO) is a special forces unit of the Spanish National Police Corps, established on 5 April 1978. The GEO was formed to fight against terrorist and organized crime groups in Spain, and its first action was on 7 February 1981, when it rescued five hostages from the Banco Bilbao Vizcaya. It also foiled an ETA attack on the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, arrested 41 terrorists, freed 424 hostages, boarded twenty narcotics-laden ships, and lost 5 members, as of 2007.